CNKNA - Cheezy Love
by peekodemeeko12
Summary: This is a rewrite of the original; A move is always stressful especially when entire countries shift. What happens when Jackie decides to befriend an adorable little mouse and make a new life in Clover Country? How will Pierce take hearing the new 'ticking' in Jackie's chest which he's never heard before? Pierce X Jackie
1. Chapter 1

This is a rewrite of my original 'Cheesy Love' between Pierce and Jackie. I felt like I cut him short even though Pierce really is a great character. Please enjoy this switch up! I will be taking down the old one and writing a new series between Pierce and Jackie depending on your opinions.

ENJOY!

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The day at the Amusement Park was hot and uncomfortable as Jackie fanned herself, trying to relax a bit as she headed towards the Amusement Park entrance. The heavy and hot metal of the new ticket dispenser weighed heavily in her arms as she worked up an uncomfortable sweat, disliking the stickiness of her skin. Of all the days for the ticket machine to break of course it would be on one of the hottest days. At least she was able to get away from Boris for a bit; he kept hugging and touching her since he knew she hated it during the hotter weather. He had the gall to trap her in his fur for a bit before she was able to wiggle her way free and run away from him. She was going to have to pay him back for all that teasing somehow soon.

"Oh, Miss Jackie! Would you care for some help?" A worker, Jason, offered, trotting up to her cheerfully.

"Yup here." Jackie quickly stated before dropping the heavy machine into his arms, watching him stagger forward for a moment before collecting himself. She shakily exhaled and leaned forward, feeling her arms achingly pulsating as she shook her limbs out to get the blood flowing again. "Thank you, that is really heavy." The park's engineer admitted as Jason heaved the machine onto his shoulder, leaning a little awkwardly to keep it balanced.

"Goodness Miss Jackie, this is so heavy!" He cried in wonderment before taking a look at her biceps. "You're so much stronger than I would have guess." Jason admitted, seeming to admire her muscles under her outfit.

"Yeah. Oh, is it too heavy for you? Here let's both carry it." Jackie offered, reaching up for it but he straightened his spine with a weary smile.

"No no, I've got it. Are you heading to the entrance?" He asked, walking a little slow as a thankful Jackie trotted next to him.

"Aren't you going off duty?" Jackie asked, recognizing him as one of the employees at the teacup ride. She looked past him, seeing a fresh new worker standing at his ready to work before she noticed just how ragged the employee with her looked, "here, you go and head off out of here I'll bet you're tired." Jackie said, reaching for the machine again but he held it away from her with a smile.

"There's no need, Miss Jackie. I am heading for the entrance now to go pick up dinner in town." Jason briefly explained with a strained grin, his cheek twitching from having to smile all day. Jackie lightly smiled, appreciating the hard working employees. They don't have it easy with Gowland as their Dutchess but it's a much more fun employment option than as a Heart Castle guard or one of Dupre's mafia guys. "So, miss Jackie, what are you planning to do with this ticket machine?"

"Something's got the machine jammed up so I figured I'd switch it out with the spare for the time being." Jackie explained, much happier now she didn't have to lug that heavy thing all the way to the front.

"Oh! So then you can fix the other one in the meantime and use that for the next time it needs to be switched. Clever," Jason complimented, wobbling ever so slightly as the front gate came into view, "normally we leave it and it mends itself after a few Time Changes." He tried to shrug but clambered for the wobbling piece instead, steadying himself.

"Yeah and how much money do you think you would have lost for that?" She pointed out in annoyance as he laughed in a rather carefree manner.

"I suppose you're right." He said, slowly placing the new ticket machine onto the counter with a loud sigh, grabbing and rubbing his shoulder out.

"Thank you." Jackie thanked, getting behind the counter as the woman in the post stepped out.

"Thanks for the early replacement, doll!" She thanked the man before quickly zipping out of there, leaving him startled and frozen on the spot. Jackie stared at him, seeing Jason trembling in exhaustion already before letting out a heavy sigh and slumping over. A snicker slipped past Jackie's lips as she patted him on the back. Poor guy tries to be helpful and he's got another job dumped on him in the last minute.

"There there, it's alright." Jackie laughed as the worker sucked in a fast back, curling his spine the other way as he looked almost renewed.

"Alright! Back to work!" He said, taking it in surprisingly gracefully as he looked down at Jackie. "How long until the ticket machine is replaced?" He asked.

"Only a few minutes." Jackie said as they both heard a loud clatter. They turned, seeing a big man grabbing the replacement ticket box before taking off with shocking speed. Both the worker and Jackie stared at him, silenced in shock at the fact anyone could carry a ticket box like that and still run so fast.

"WHAT?!" They both screamed as the worker grabbed his gun, firing off a few shots at the man before taking off after him.

"Get back here!" Jason shouted at him as he quickly began pursuing the man with Jackie keeping stride next to him.

"Who the hell would even _want_ steal a ticket machine?!" She shouted in annoyance as Jason suddenly stopped while Jackie continued to chase the man.

"No, Miss Jackie wait! If you go you won't be able to come back!" Jason cried as she charged after the man, dead set and determined to beat him to death if necessary.

"Give that back! How the hell can you even run so fast while carrying that thing?!" The engineer demanded, shocked and almost impressed at the thief's endurance. Her legs pumped harder as he made a sudden turn into the alley. Determined not to let the thief get away she kept on him, chasing him down the strange twists and turns of the alley without a pause in beat.

She slowed to a stop, breathing hard as she tried to figure out which way he took. Where did he go?! Without warning the entire alley began shaking, making her stagger with a small scream. What was this, an earthquake? Her heart stuttered nervously as she began running towards the streets and out of the narrow alley. For earthquakes it was best to _not_ be between buildings that could collapse and crush the life out of a small squishy person. The loud bang of metal grating against the ground caught her ear as Jackie stopped by an alley opening, spotting the man as he readjusted the ticket machine.

"There you are!" Jackie shouted at him as he jumped, startled as he quickly gathered himself and kept running. "Hey, stop!"

The chase resumed as she kept after him, breathing hard as her lungs and legs began to burn. Just what kind of physical endurance does this guy even have?! As she continued running a piercing scream steadily became louder. What the? Jackie glanced to either side, baffled by the high pitched ringing which slowly began forming a string of words.

"Scary cat scary cat scary cat scary cat scary cat SCARY CAT **SCARY CAAAAAAAAT~**!" A loud scream shrieked as a hard body smacked into Jackie's side, toppling her over as they both landed in a fumbling heap. As the boy tried to get away Jackie's head shot up, seeing the man gone with the ticket machine. Crap, he got away. The engineer let out a loud, disappointed sigh before she noticed the boy stopped struggling beneath her. She looked down, seeing the mouse man's bright teary emerald eyes looking right up at her in puzzlement. "Y-Y-You smell like a cat." He almost sobbed, startling her.

"Who are you?" Jackie asked, not recognizing the Role Holder before her. Seeing the distressed state he was in alarmed her as she mentally tried to think of what could have reduced a Role Holder of all people to a state like this. His shiny eyes held the after effect of tears as his chest huffed and puffed, looking quite scared as he stared at her hand. What was he just running from? Jackie stared at him, debating on what to do as she glanced at the alley the man disappeared to. That man was long gone and now she had a kid here on the borderline of a panic attack. After some debating she grinned, seeing the boy stiffen up in alarm.

"SHE'S GOING TO EAT ME!" He shrieked, shoving her shoulders back as he flipped to his feet, trying to run again.

"Hey, wait! I'm not going to eat you!" Jackie shouted, before he fell back down, startling her as she saw his swelling ankle. Did he twist it after running into her? The boy flipped onto his back, crying again as he backed away from her quickly but ran into the wall which trapped him.

"Don't eat me! Please don't eat me, Miss cat!" He begged as she stared at him, startled.

"Eat you? W-Why would I eat you?" Jackie asked, flabbergasted at this Role Holder's begging. He was acting nothing like any Role Holder she met before and it baffled him that he was so frightened of her of all people.

"B-B-Because you're a cat! Cats eat mice!" He accusingly cried as he shook in fear. Jackie stared at him, seeing his flushing face and trembling limbs as she found herself wanting to tease him. She never had an opportunity to really tease a Role Holder before. Feeling irked at the man having gotten away and estranged by the little boy in front of her she cheekily grinned, crouching down in front of him.

"Don't you know cats like to play with their food?" She teased, watching him shriek in genuine fear before trying to run past her. Jackie grabbed his tail, watching him freeze up as he began hyperventilating with tears streaming down her face.

"Pl-Please spare me, Miss cat!" He cried, flipping onto his hands and knees as he began begging. Jackie's chest panged with unease as she let out a sigh, very gently touching the back of his head as he flinched. Yikes~ looks like she really actually scared him.

"Hey, I'm not a cat." Jackie said, softly tugging on his ear as he vigorously shook his head.

"No! You are! I-I-I can smell it! You can't trick me!" Pierce cried, covering his head while he continued shaking in fear.

Jackie let out a deep sigh. Ah~ she shouldn't have messed with him in the first place. He's really, really scared and can't get away from her. It's not like she could leave him there and he'd be fine either; he had a twisted ankle which was partially her fault.

"Hey, I'm serious here. I'm really not a cat." Jackie said, petting the back of his head as he pushed her hand away and covered his head as a minimal amount of protection.

"You are! You smell like a c-c-c-c-at so are on!" He sniffled, sobbing a little more quietly now as Jackie sat down in front of him, trying to figure out what to do before snapping his fingers at the appearance of an idea.

"Hey, alright, I'll tell you what; I'll spare you if you take something." Jackie said, rummaging through her bag and finding a small pouch full of candy she sometimes gave to kids in the park.

"W-Wh-What?" He asked, trembling as she held a pouch up in front of him. His shaking stopped as he stared at it, sniffing at the pouch in confusion.

"I've got too much candy weighing me down. Can you take some off my hands?" Jackie asked, watching as he hesitantly sat up, taking the pouch from her and staring at it in confusion.

"Y-You're giving this to me, chu?" He asked, blinking in surprise as he stared at her rather openly.

"Yeah. So relax, alright? I'm not going to eat you." Jackie cheerfully smiled, staring at his face. He looked like a really cute kid. It made her wonder what kind of Role he held.

"You really mean it? I can have all of this?" He asked, visibly getting more and more excited by the moment as he opened up the pouch, untwisting one of the harder candies and popped it into his mouth.

"Yeah." Jackie said, watching as he hummed in enjoyment and broadly smiled, sucking on the candy happily. The engineer reached forward, gently petting his head as his ears perked up. "Hey, I'm really sorry for freaking you out earlier. I was upset over losing something." Jackie admitted, feeling bad she let her frustrations get the better of her.

"You did, chu? What did you lose?" He asked, looking up to her in puzzlement.

"Nothing too serious, I guess," Jackie sighed, not really feeling like telling this kid about her troubles. Her eyes lock onto his ankle, seeing it swell up a bit, "hey, how's your ankle?" She asked, gently tugging on his leg before gently holding his foot, "it's starting to swell up; we should get it iced." Jackie said, handling the tender area very carefully before he started shaking again. She looked up, alarmed that she scared him again before she saw his eyes glowing in excitement.

"Th-Thank you!" He cried, suddenly throwing his arms around her and hugging her tightly with a happy hum.

"For what? I'm the reason your ankle got twisted." Jackie frowned as he tightly hugged her.

"You're so nice! You're the first person to care about me since Alice!" He cheerfully cried in excitement before he kissed her on the cheek.

"You know Alice?" Jackie asked, surprised at the kiss but not thinking too hard about it; a lot of people she used to know would kiss as a greeting on the cheek.

"Yeah! She's the boss's woman." He cheerfully grinned as she stared at him, putting two and two together. He works for Blood; which means he works for the mafia? Jackie took another look at his adorably innocent face. There's no way he possibly works for the mafia; he's too cute, innocent and gullible … but then again, so are the twins.

"Hey, we should get your foot iced. Where do you live?" Jackie asked as the sky's coloration shifted to Night. Jackie looked up, surprised as the street lamps on the streets began to light up, casting dim light into the alley they were in. She blinked, suddenly blind as she looked around and gently touched Pierce's leg trying to figure out where he was.

"It's okay! It's already healed, see?" He said as his leg shifted. Jackie patted down his leg, running her fingers over his smooth ankle. Huh; she forgot how quickly Role Holders heal.

"Yeah, that's good." Jackie smiled, setting his foot down as she stood up and tried to adjust her eyes in the dark.

"Good? Why? Chu," he asked, sounding puzzled as she looked in his general direction.

"Well, it wouldn't be good if you were hurt. I'd hate leaving you out here while you were injured."

"Why?" He innocently asked as he gently set his hand on her arm, making her look somewhat in his direction.

"Because then you could get hurt even worse. Night is dangerous, you know." Jackie said as she looked around, suddenly more paranoid. She needed to get back to the Amusement Park quickly.

"Thank you!" He shouted, hugging her quite suddenly. She jumped slightly, startled as his mouth pressed against hers, making her tense up in surprise before he pulled back, "you're so nice, Miss cat! Nothing like Boris is." He said as Jackie felt her cheeks touch with heat as she stared at the silhouette of his face. He kissed her right on the mouth?! His arms gave one last squeeze before he slid his hands over her stiff arms.

"Y-You're so cute, Miss cat! If no one else will pick you up, can I pick you up? Please?" He asked, gently holding her hands with a happy flash of his teeth before he suddenly tensed up. In the next instant he vanished, making her jolt in surprise. W-What the? Where did he go?

"We got you now, rat!" A mature voice shouted as she looked up, seeing the gleam of an axe coming her way.

Jackie shrieked at the top of her lungs, falling onto the ground as the blade dug into the side of the building. What the hell?!

"Ha! Your screams have gotten more girly, you girly mouse!" Another voice shouted as she spotted another gleam of an axe. Jackie kicked off the ground and rolled away, sprinting away towards the streets rather desperately. Night was dangerous but that was ridiculous!

"Hey, come back you girly mouse!" The voices in unison made Jackie's eyes widen as she recognized their synchronized speaking. She stumbled back over the cobblestone path, watching the large figures leap out of the darkness of the alleyways.

"DEE DUM STOP!" Jackie shrieked as she put her arms up, jolting with a cold sweat as she heard the clash of their blades against the cobblestone.

"Huh? Jackie?" One of them asked, sounding startled.

"Whoa! What are you doing here?" The one with longer hair asked, both of them pulling their blades back. Jackie's heart raced uneasily as she looked up at him, seeing them looking down at her with large smiles on their faces.

"Dee, look! Jackie made it over!" The short haired one, Dum, shouted excitedly as Jackie's eyes widened. She was right? This was Dee and Dum? B-But they look so much older!

"Yeah! Isn't this great, brother? Now we can spend more time together!" They happily cheered, pulling her up in one fast tug before they both tightly hugged her.

"W-Whoa, whoa wait a minute! How did you two get older?!" Jackie demanded, wriggling her way free as she backed away, looking up at them both in confusion.

"Ha ha! You're acting just like Alice did!" Dee cheekily grinned before, in the blink of an eye, he shifted into his younger self, clothes and all. Jackie's eyes bulged out of her head in shock as Dum did the same while Dee remained older, both of them cheekily grinning.

"We can change our age, big sis! Didn't you know?" They cheekily asked as one figure while Jackie's head spun.

"H-How?!" Jackie asked, dumbfounded before she froze, reminding herself that _anything_ could happen in Wonderland. Before either could answer a suddenly very serious expression wiped the joy from their expressions. Before she could ask what happened Dee's arm shot out, grabbing Jackie and yanking her forward as a loud bang went off, followed by a swing of Dum's axe in front of them.

"Wow, there's so many of them!" Dee excitedly shouted as Jackie's face paled. Where the hell was she right now?!

"Yeah! There's always so much fun after the move!" Dum grinned as Dee let Jackie go, getting in front of her. Jackie staggered back, feeling her mind spinning in confusion before she hit someone's chest. She looked up, surprised to see Blood standing there with a cheerful smile.

"A pleasure to meet again, young lady." He smiled charmingly while jabbing the end of his cane into a faceless's skull. Jackie's face paled as he brought her hand up, kissing her knuckles, "and what might a fine young woman like you be doing walking around in the middle of the night?" He asked as he allowed her to pull back her hand and wipe off the kiss.

"Running into the last people I wanted to see." Jackie frowned, trying not to turn back around and see why the twins were excitedly whooping and hollering behind her along with the cries of death from the various faceless. This kind of blatant death she could never become alright with. At least she and Alice were similar in that regard.

"No need to be so rude, young lady. Elliot will be here soon enough after finding out where our little mousy friend has gone," Blood said, looking around with a faint smile, "have you seen a Pierce Villiers, by chance?"

"If I did I have no idea," Jackie said, curious now that he said 'mousy' but could guess who he was referring to, "I thought your main group consisted of the twins and Elliot. Is there another?" She curiously asked, remembering what that mouse kid said before about Alice and her being the boss's. Blood's gaze slid down to me with a faint smile on his lips.

"Indeed. I'm sure you won't get the chance to meet him, however. He's a rather skittish fellow," he said with a cheerful smile, "out of curiosity, my dear, how are you coping?" He asked.

"Coping? With what?" Jackie asked, immediately put on guard as she uneasily stared at him.

"Coping with the fact your precious park has been taken away from you by the big move?" He questioned as Jackie blankly stared at him.

"The move?" She asked, puzzled. "What move? Who moved?"

"The lands, of course. We were in Heart Country and now we are in Clover Country." He said with a smile, shifting his cane into a gun as he pulled Jackie aside before letting out a brief fire into the crowd of dangerous faceless before more of his men swooped in, taking care of them. He smiled before letting her go. "You're more than welcomed to stay at the Mansion if you so choose. It will be more entertaining with another foreigner there." He offered with a smile as Jackie's eyes narrowed suspiciously at him.

" … you're plotting something. What are you plotting?" Jackie questioned as he let out a rather carefree laugh.

"Nothing at all. I only wanted to show some kindness to the foreigner seeing her precious Amusement Park has been lost. I look forward to see how you cope with it." He smiled as Jackie's expression dropped.

"W-What are you talking about? Blood, what does that mean, that the Amusement Park is lost?" She asked, feeling her heart beginning to pound a little faster.

"I mean exactly what I said." He devilishly smiled as Jackie retreated a small step back before sprinting back towards the Amusement Park. What in the world was _that_ supposed to mean?!

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Jackie ran straight back towards the park's entrance but all that remained was a massive expanse of forest. Her lips parted, shocked as she fell to her knees, staring at what was once the entrance to the park. B-But how? How did that happen? Why was the Amusement Park gone? Her mind spun wildly with questions as she let out a heavy sigh, rubbing head as she tried to think things through. She was there in the last Time Change, and the Amusement Park was there. And then after that Time Change, the Amusement Park was gone. A blank slate as to what could have happened in between those times screened across her mind as she tilted her head, trying to make sense of it.

" … that doesn't make any sense, hold on." She said to herself as she began to pace back and forth, thinking hard about what the hell was happening. "Okay … so it was here in the Afternoon Time Change … but now it's not in the Night Time Change." She said, gesturing with her hands and motions two different things as she struggled to think of the cause. Nothing like this had ever happened before in Wonderland; at least, not during her stay here. But would Alice know what's going on?

With a heavy sigh she ran a hand through her head. She was exhausted. What the hell was she going to do now? Where would she go? It's pretty dangerous at this time of Night to be out especially when she has no idea what's going on. But if she were to go to the Mansion then she'd be able to ask Alice what's going on here. With a heavy sigh Jackie headed back into town, planning to take up Blood's offer to stay there with him for at least a little while.

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"Big sis, come sleep with us!" Dee shouted with a grin, hugging Jackie around the waist tightly as Dum hugged her other arm. She tried her best to ignore them as she slowly dragged them with her down the halls, earning some strange looks of the nearby servants who otherwise ignored them.

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" Dum agreed as he kept his grip firm on her.

"Off." Jackie stated, trying to shake them off of her but their grips only tightened as they both shifted into adults, making her jump slightly as she was forced to a stop.

"Come on, please?" Dum cheerfully grinned as Dee nodded.

"We were really good boys today! We didn't let even _one_ enemy escape." Dee proudly proclaimed as Dum nodded eagerly beside him in agreement.

"Alright, alright fine! But first-," she stared before the twins immediately began dragging her towards their room while loudly cheering.

"Hey hey, wait, wait- HOLD IT." Jackie said, grabbing both of their ears as they let out a small cry of pain before she left them go.

"That was mean." Dum huffed, rubbing his ear gingerly.

"Grabbing our ears like that is domestic abuse you know." Dee pouted as Jackie firmly folded her arms and looked up at them both without the slightest bit of regret.

"First I need to talk to Alice; do you know where she is?" Jackie asked as the bloody twins started to widely grin.

"Boss is-,"

"Nope, that's all I need to know." Jackie cut that right off at the head as she looked around, looking around the hall as if looking for something, "do you know where Elliot is?"

"Why do you care about that chicken rabbit?" Dee pouted with a firm frown as he held onto Jackie's arm, pulling her close.

"Yeah! It's nighttime and that's when you go to sleep, right?" Dum huffed as he snatched onto her other arm and both began dragging them to their room.

"Hey come on guys, I don't want to." Jackie sighed in annoyance, just wanting to go back to her apartment; which wasn't a possibility at the moment.

"Hey, you promised! Please?" They both asked before suddenly turning younger. Jackie stared at them, narrowing her eyes as they gave her the puppy dog looks.

"Please?" Dum pleaded, hugging her shoulders.

"Pretty please, big sis?" Dee asked, holding her waist.

"We won't do anything weird like that chicken rabbit would."

"Yeah, our intentions are pure!"

" … fine, yeah, sure." Jackie heavily sighed. She didn't exactly have anywhere to sleep and the boys wouldn't do anything weird. They were psychotic and murdery but they weren't perverted and weird.

"Yay!"

"Thanks big sis!" Dum shouted as they both happily hugged her before growing bigger. "Come on, let's go to sleep!" He grinned as they pulled her into their room. Jackie stumbled inside as they quickly shut the door, excitedly chatting with each other as Jackie stared at the bed.

… whoops.

"WAIT." She started, making them both pause in their excitement, "you have to go to bed as your kid forms. Your adult forms will take up too much room." She said as they both frowned.

"Awe, but please?" Dee asked with a pouting frown.

"You're so much smaller and cuter when we're like this." Dum grinned as he hugged her shoulders.

"Yeah! And you already said you would without that condition earlier," Dee visibly pouted as Jackie tugged on his pony tail back a little, exposing his neck as she poked his adam's apple.

"Take it or leave it, boys. What's it going to be?" She teased with a grin as they both pouted, growing younger without any further argument before they gasped in excitement.

"Hey, you need to be in the middle!"

"Yeah! So we can both cuddle equally as much!" Dee grinned as Dum high fived his brother. Jackie lightly smiled, having no argument there for the time being before she unzipped her uniform, pushing the sleeves out which left her in a tank top. The boys fell silent as she pushed the uniform down to her hips, stretching out her arms a little bit before noticing them staring.

" … what?" She asked, staring right back at them as they look away in embarrassment. They muttered to themselves as Jackie suspiciously stared at them, her eyes narrowing in thought before she took off her tool belt, setting it over the couch before kicking off the uniform and folding it up. Both of the boys snuck up behind her before suddenly grabbing her, making her jump before with a 'heave ho' they threw her onto the bed. "What the-?!" Jackie stared as they jumped on with her, hugging her tightly while laughing. "What are you doing!? Off!" Jackie ordered, trying to pry their hands off but their grips were quite strong.

"Thank you, big sis!" They both shouted at the same time as Jackie paused, staring at their childishly grinning faces. She let out a tired sigh as she laid back against the bed, watching as they both happily cuddle up to her and rest their heads near her shoulders. Their fingers entwined with hers as she let out a yawn, certainly tired from the day before she tried to get settled in herself. Jeez these twins are a handful … no wonder Alice has such a hard time with them. Jackie stared at their faces, feeling a tad protective of them at the same time before she smiled, feeling her heart ache a bit. Somehow they both reminded her a bit of her young twin Jay. Irresponsible and childish but a lot more violent and bloody. Oh well; they were cute kids.

Jackie closed her eyes, finding herself slowly falling asleep. Tomorrow she'd need to find Alice and ask her what happened to Wonderland but for now, it was time to sleep.

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I really do feel bad for doing Pierce an injustice with his story and, feeling a spark of interest back in the HNKNA world, I'm going to try and improve his story so it's more worthy towards his unique and adorable character. Get ready for the cuteness! _**10 REVIEWS**_ for the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Jackie trotted down the road around town, finding herself freaked out by all of the changes; none of them were serious changes at all but it was the minor changes that made her the most uneasy. While the streets were familiar what kept throwing her off were the massive mushrooms sprouting up out of nowhere all over town. They weren't there earlier; it's like they just suddenly appeared when the Dawn Time Change came around. Her frown deepened as she tried to think hard about how this all happened. Blood said something about a move but what he said made no sense. Alice _had_ to know what was going on and she needed to find her. Since she had been here longer than she has Alice most likely had the insight as to what was happening.

After wrestling her way free of the sleeping twins and escaping without waking them somehow, a servant told her Dupre and Alice were strolling around town. That in itself was a rather cute and tame date for the odd couple but the engineer didn't feel like sitting around and waiting for them to come back.

As she continued to walk around the town she found herself getting more and more anxious over the thought of what happened to Mary and Boris. Where were they? Were they alright or were they hurt somewhere, wherever the Amusement Park went? Jackie could be rather stoic at times where her face did not portray just how deep her worry was but her stomach was churning and aching over how much it hurt her not knowing what happened to her precious Amusement Park and what happened to everyone else who was there.

Jackie heavily sighed again as she rubbed her aching head. All of this thinking was really starting to upset her.

"JACKIE~!" A loud voice meowed loudly as Jackie sucked in a fast breath, whipping around and tightly hugging Boris back as he tightly gripped her in a hug.

"This is so cool! I didn't know if you made it over in the move or not." He toothily grinned as Jackie held him more tightly, not saying a word. Seeing Boris took so much of the pressure off her chest that she was admittedly lightheaded now. "Hey~ come on," Boris said, lightly rubbing her head as she sucked in a deep breath and let go.

"Alright Boris, start talking. What in the world happened to the Amusement Park?" Jackie started, feeling her heart aching, "is Gowland and the others alright? Why was the Amusement Park there one Time Change and suddenly disappeared the next? And how are you here-," she started before he pushed his furry scarf into her mouth, making her gag out the loose hairs as he lightly laughed.

"Come on, relax, nothing bad happened to them. Come on, let's go to the ice cream parlor and I'll explain it there." Boris grinned as he took her hand, trotting off down the street with her in tow.

"Can't you just explain what happened to me now?" Jackie impatiently asked, pulling his arm back as he let out a sigh. His finger tapped against her head, making her peel off as he smiled.

"Come on, Jackie. Everything is just fine; it was just the move," Boris shrugged, "it happens every now and again; totally normal."

"Nothing is normal here. How is it 'normal' for an entire territory to vanish overnight?" Jackie pressured, wondering briefly if the Amusement Park was still there somewhere but she just couldn't find it.

"Because we moved from Heart Country to Clover Country." Boris answered with a shrug before his head suddenly snapped around, his eyes becoming excited slits as a creepy grin flashed across his face.

"Boris," Jackie growled, grabbing his fur and trying to pull him back down to her but something permanently had his attention.

"Stay right here and get ready to catch him," he grinned, leaping into the alleyway silently. Jackie let out a heavy sigh and deeply frowned in annoyance, briefly wondering if it was the twins he was going after. But as to why she would have to catch the twins when they would just fight back-

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" A piercingly loud shriek ensued, snapping her out of her thoughts as she looked up to see a green coated mouse sprinting out from the alley with Boris chasing him.

"Whoa, what?!" Jackie shouted, seeing the mouse try to make a break for it before she automatically shot forward, catching him in his arms. The boy struggled and kept screaming in fear, nearly breaking her grasp twice before she locked her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "W-What is going on right now?! Boris, what are you doing?!" Jackie shouted at him as the feline trotted around her side, sneakily grinning as he looked over the mouse.

"Ha ha~ caught again, _rat_." Boris evilly grinned, taking out his gun and nudging it against his head.

"Squeeak! D-Don't eat me, Mr. kitty!" The boy screamed, hiding his face against Jackie's shoulder as she brought her hand up, blocking the nozzle of Boris's gun.

"Boris stop that, you're scaring him!" Jackie scolded, turning away from him to keep her body between the fighting boys but he easily circled her with his eyes on the mouse.

"So? He's just a rat." Boris said with a cheeky shrug as he slipped out a fork, wickedly grinning, "now let's eat!" He grinned as Jackie's arm wrapped around the boy's head protectively. The prongs of the fork lightly pricked her arm as he tensed up, appearing rather uneasy as he pulled the fork back and saw the small dabs of blood.

"That's enough, Boris." Jackie stated in a finalized tone, glaring at him as he blinked, startled before his expression fell to a rather uneasy one.

"Hey come on, this isn't funny anymore." Boris said, leaning towards her arm and giving the small stab wound a few licks.

"It wasn't funny from the beginning. Don't go chasing him around anymore, you're scaring him!"

"He's just a rat, Jackie." Boris huffed, his eyes narrowing in annoyance, "cats chase rats."

"Come on Boris, lighten up." Jackie countered, trying to play it off a bit as she more tightly held onto the shivering boy.

"Ugh. You foreigners all act the same, taking away my fun," Boris pouted, "fine, I'll just go mess with the twins then. Enjoy your time with the rat." He growled, clearly hurt before he trotted off grumbling. Jackie made sure he wasn't going to turn around and start chasing the boy again before she loosened her hold, seeing him looking up at her with watery eyes.

"W-Wh-Why do you smell like the twins, Ms. kitty?" He asked, clearly almost on the verge of sobbing again, "y-y-you aren't here to just bully me, are you?" He asked, trembling some more as Jackie frowned. Yeah, she definitely did smell like the twins after being forced to sleep in the same bed as them and Boris too since she hugged him.

"Do the twins and Boris bully you a lot?" Jackie asked, letting him take a somewhat shy step back as he appeared to debate on either answering or running away.

"Yeah … i-it's why I ran away to Clover Country b-bu-but now they're here too." He sniffled, clearly upset. Jackie stared at him, still not understanding this whole Heart Country and Clover Country business before she let out a sigh. He perked up, ears low against his head before Jackie grinned.

"Hey, want to show me where the ice cream parlor is? I want to buy you some ice cream." She said as Pierce's ears perked up, surprised before his eyes began to excitedly glow.

"R-Really?!" He shouted joyfully, trembling in happiness.

"Do you not want to?" Jackie asked with a tease as the brightest smile flashed across his face.

"Yes! Chu~," he said, throwing himself onto her before kissing her on the cheek, "thank you! Chu!" He continued, kissing the corner of her lips as Jackie's eyes flashed, sensing what was fast approaching, "it's just over-" he started moving his lips onto her mouth before he hand shot between them, catching his mouth and seeing him blink, puzzled. He stared at her, eyes beginning to water again before Jackie hugged him tightly, seeing him pause before smiling as he hugged her back. Jeez, this guy is more high maintenance and sensitive than the twins and that's really saying something.

"Come on, let's hurry up and get some ice cream." She said, pulling him along as he grabbed hold of her hand.

"Yay~ I'm so glad I picked you up, Ms. Kitty! You're so nice!" He happily cried, hugging her arm as she looked him over. He didn't seem to be young but he definitely acted like a kid. She let out a heavy sigh, lightly hugging him back with one arm while wondering why she seemed to attract the younger Role Holders. To the twins she was like an older sister and now it seemed she was like an older sister to this guy too. Oh.

"Hey, what's your name? I don't think you ever told me." Jackie said as he cheerfully looked up at her.

"My name is Pierce Villiers!" He excitedly grinned.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Pierce. I'm Jackie, not Ms. Kitty." Jackie smiled, gently rubbing his ear like she does with Boris at times. He perked up, his ear twitching under her palm before he seemed to melt against her with a content and happy smile.

Jackie and Pierce both walked into the ice cream parlor which was fairly empty of people. She purchased a cheesecake ice cream for Pierce and, thinking it looked good, went ahead and bought herself the strawberry cheesecake ice cream before they walked out to the sidewalk, looking for a good place to sit and eat.

"They're ice cream is so yummy! Thank you, Jackie! Chu~," Pierce cheerfully cried as he leaned over to her, kissing her on the cheek with his ice cream sticky lips before he eagerly went back to his ice cream.

"Yeah, you're welcome." Jackie said, bothered by his touchiness but supposed it wasn't so bad. He meant well, she was sure of it. "Hey, let's sit over here." Jackie said, starting for an open table near the entrance but Pierce gently grabbed her hand.

"No way, that's dangerous! Here, let's sit in the corner." He said, directing her attention over to the back of the shop.

"But why the back when the street is right here?" She asked, puzzled as she licked at her melting ice cream.

"Because you're more easily seen that way. Plus, in the back, there are more escape routes into the forest and alleyways." Pierce cheerfully explained as Jackie stared at him, unable to help but wonder just how often he was bullied by the twins and Boris too.

"Well, yeah, sure. The back sounds fine." Jackie agreed, following him into the back of the shop where they took their seats by the corner near the forest. The engineer stretched, still a little sleepy since the twins kept kicking her last Night before she smiled, happy and content with the ice cream. "So, Pierce," Jackie started, curious about her new mousy friend, "what Role do you have?" She asked, seeing him pause. He broke into a cold sweat, looking away as he stressfully continued to lick his ice cream. " … Pierce?" Jackie asked, finding the behavior strange. After a prolonged silence Jackie let out a sigh. Maybe it was a weird Role where he can't talk about it? "It's fine if you don't want to say. I was just curious since I know everyone else's roles and I just met you." Jackie explained as Pierce hesitantly looked over to her.

"Um … well, I-I don't want you to hate me." He said, his ears pressed against his head.

"I work for a psychopathic maniac who builds rides I swear specifically for the purpose of destroying his customers," Mary Gowland, "my best friend is second command of the mafia for Dupre," Elliot March, "I have another friend who's Dupre's wife," Alice Liddel, "I am friends with an eccentric queen who delights in beheadings," Vivaldi, "I'm well acquainted with the knight of hearts who, generally, is psychotic," Ace, "and among others," namely Boris and the twins who she won't mention at the moment, "so, Pierce, I highly doubt whatever Role you have will scare me." Jackie teasingly grinned as Pierce stared at her in shock before smiling in excitement.

"You're friends with Elly?!" Pierce happily cried, his cheeks touching with pink, "that makes me so happy! Here, a kiss~! Chu," he said, literally throwing himself at her as she leaned back, holding her ice cream high to protect it, leaving her defenseless against him kissing her other cheek with the sticky remains of the cheesecake ice cream he has.

"You know Elliot?" Jackie asked, guessing that's who he was referring to when he said Elly.

"Yeah! He's so nice and cute!" He cheerfully smiled as Jackie lightly laughed.

"Yeah, I guess he is kind of nice and cute, isn't he?" Jackie grinned while laughing, trying to imagine how he'd react to being called 'cute'.

"Yeah!" He grinned, pressing his head against her neck and sniffing her again. His eyes burst wide open before he squealed in horror, leaping back and knocking his chair over as he trembled. Jackie remained frozen, looking around for whatever scared him but found nothing.

"Wh-What is it? Why did you scream like that?" Jackie asked, baffled as he frowned, trembling with tears forming in his eyes.

"W-W-Why do you smell like the twins? T-Their scent is all over you!" He said, looking almost mortified. "Is it true, th-then? That you're friends with them too? D-Does that mean you're going to bully me?" He asked. Jackie stared at him, puzzled. He mentioned their scent before but that didn't bother him the rest of the time? Pushing that aside she turned her attention back to Pierce, seeing him flinch back slightly.

"Look, it's not anything you're thinking. Yes, I'm friends with Dee, Dum and Boris but I don't want to bully you at all because I don't think it's right to bully anyone." Jackie explained.

"R-Really? Even though I'm a rat, you don't want to bully me?" He asked, inching closer hesitantly.

"No, I have no interest in bullying you." Jackie said, teasingly smiling, "you're too cute to bully, Pierce."

After receiving no response she simply sat there and stared at his trembling excitement before another bright smile flashed across his face.

"Y-You're so nice! And so cute!" He cried, hurrying over to her before happily hugging her, attempting to give her another kiss before she put her ice cream between them, watching him kiss the cheesecake flavored frozen milk before he blinked.

"Here, finish this for me." She said, handing it to him as his eyes glowed with excitement. "Thank you!" He cheerfully cried, taking the ice cream without question. Jackie stared at him as he happily licked at the cone, unable to help but feel the desire to tease him herself. He was just so innocent and cute and gullible that she could see the appeal in teasing him but not full out bullying like the twins and Boris did.

After Pierce finished the ice cream he leaned back, happily smiling while rubbing his belly before he leaned against her shoulder. Jackie smiled and reached her arm around, lightly playing with his ear as he hummed, leaning towards her again before pausing as he sniffed her, seeming puzzled.

"S-So … why do you smell like the twins so strongly?" He asked, coming back to the topic on hand. Jackie stared at him, puzzled by his behavior. He seemed like a bit of a scatterbrain but he always came circling back to the topic at hand.

"Well, after being unable to find the Amusement Park again I decided to go ahead to the Mansion for a night and the twins made me sleep in their bed is all," she answered with a shrug, seeing him blink as he thought about it. After some staring his expression turned to looking at her pitifully. " … what?"

"So you're bullied by the twins too?" He asked with a frown, "b-but you're so cute! Why would they bully you?"

"No, they don't bully me. They're like younger brothers to me so it's more like playful bantering." She said, waving them off before wondering something, "so both the twins bully you along with Boris?"

"Yeah … th-they scare me~!" He cried, trembling, "th-th-they always make my work harder by giving me more and more bodies to clean up! This assembly is going to be terrible with all the territory wars going on." He cried with a frown as his words sent many, many red flags shooting up in the back of her head. Territory wars … and here she thought they were bad in Heart Country but what if they're worse here? Her frown deepened in thought, glancing away. She needed to find a place to live, preferably a neutral territory somehow.

"What was this about an Assembly?" She asked, keeping that 'more bodies to clean up' in the back of her mind. She was starting to get a good idea of whom Blood was referring to about another member of the mafia family but she kept quiet, deciding to observe for now.

"Yeah, the Assembly at Clover Tower." He said, tilting his head curiously. "Have you never been to Clover Country before?"

"No, this is my first time and I'm pretty confused as to what's going on to be honest." Jackie sighed, rubbing her head as the sky shifted to Afternoon. "Hey, what Role Holders live at Clover Tower?"

"Oh, Nightmare and Gray live there." He said, making her perk up.

"Nightmare does?" She asked, wondering how that was possible. Wasn't Nightmare just all in her head? There was no way he was an actual person, was he?

"Yeah! Nightmare is super nice! He helps me fall asleep sometimes!" He happily grinned.

"Huh … that's awesome. Hey, Pierce, can you take me to Clover Tower?" She asked as the sky shifted to Dusk. Phew~ that was a short afternoon.

"Yeah!" He grinned, "it's not far." He said as he took her hand, tugging her towards the alleys.

"Why are we taking the alleys?"

"They're safer than the streets." Pierce smiled as Jackie very doubtfully felt that was true especially since it could turn Night at any moment, making her a little nervous.

"You sure?" She asked, doubting him but nevertheless tagged along anyway.

Not long after they started walking Jackie began noticing Pierce's ears. They remained high and alert while walking, reacting and twitching to every sound in the area. Every once in awhile, however, one of his ears would turned towards her, aimed directly at her chest before swiveling away, only to return a few moments later. She wondered if his hearing was as good as Elliot's and, if it was, he was probably listening to her heart. Soon after she thought that Pierce began sneaking glances over at her.

Feeling a little playful and wanting to test it a bit, Jackie inhaled deftly and held it before she started slowly counting. After only 4 seconds his ear turned towards her, high and alert before, after another 4 seconds, his head whipped around, looking her over in alarm before she let out a small laugh, turning to him as he intently stared at her in worry.

"Your ears are pretty good to be able to hear my heart." She teased as he stopped walking, looking puzzled.

"Heart?" He asked, looking down at her chest before back up at her, "i-is there something wrong with your clock? Is that why it's making those weird thumping noises?" He asked, drawing closer as he crouched down ever so slightly, intently staring at her chest where, underneath, her heart was pumping away blood through her whole body. After another moment of studying her closely in confusion he turned his head, pressing it against her chest while Jackie patiently waited with a smile. Pierce really was funny. She was a bit surprised he hadn't figured it out yet since he knew Alice and, if he was as acutely aware of sounds at that time then he should have already realized she's a foreigner too. After a few moments of studying he gasped, covering his mouth. Oh? Did he figure it out?

"Y-Your clock is very sick!" He cried, surprising her as she openly stared at him. He didn't get it.

"I'm not sick, Pierce. That's how it always sounds." She smiled as he fretted, pushing his hand against her chest and trying to feel the nonexistent ticking.

"But doesn't that mean you've been sick for a long time?" He innocently asked, looking up at her with large doleful eyes. Jackie stared back, wanting to tease him some more but instead let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm a foreigner, Pierce, like Alice so I also have a heart like she does." Jackie pointed out, watching his expression morph from confusion to amazement.

"R-Really?!" He cried, startled as he quickly hugged her, burying his head against her chest as he listened closely to the sounds of her heartbeat. "But why does your heart sound different from Alice's?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Every foreigner has a different, unique 'ticking' for their heartbeat. Don't the faceless here have unique ticking?" She asked as he turned his head up and looked at her.

"No, not really. Everyone's clock ticks at the same pace, never changing. But your heartbeat is different; it changes pace sometimes, just like Alice's especially when she's with Blood." Pierce noted, holding her a little tighter as he tried to listen more closely.

"Really? I didn't know that." Jackie admitted, staring at the top of his head. The close quarters made Jackie a little uneasy but she otherwise allowed it, amusing herself with his ear as she gently pet it. The little mouse let out a contented hum, relaxing in her grasp as his chest very slightly vibrated. Jackie paid attention to it, curious as she felt a very subtle 'purring' coming to his chest, one of which was more subtle than Boris and Elliot but it was still there. Huh … that's funny. It seemed like all of Wonderland's human animals have some kind of or weird purring. It was cute. Pierce let out a content sigh, snuggling a little closer with a smile and faint touch of pink on his cheeks.

"Your heart sounds really soothing." He admitted, his eyes very slowly closing as he leaned more onto her.

"Hey hey, come on, get up. I need to go see Nightmare, remember?" She said as he leaned back, now looking more relaxed and a little more sleepy rather than the highly alert state he was in earlier.

"Yeah," he said, seeming hesitant before inching closer, "c-can I listen to your heartbeat tonight so I can sleep?" He asked, his eyes gleaming with shyness but determination.

"Why do you need to listen to my heart to sleep?" She playfully questioned, lightly pinching his ear and tugging on it a bit as he grimaced but otherwise didn't say anything about it.

"Because it sounds so soothing a-and nice that it sounds like a sweet lullaby." He stated, looking eagerly up at her. Comparing her beating heart to a lullaby made Jackie smile rather bashfully. She's never thought of her heart sounding like a lullaby before. That was rather adorable. She hedged back a bit, glancing away in thought.

"Hmm~ I'm not so sure~ usually I don't like people sleeping in my bed," she playfully teased as Pierce gasped, sounding happy somehow through the fast inhale.

"Yay! Thank you, Jackie!" He happily trilled as she fall back a bit, surprised.

"Hey hey, I didn't say yes." She reminded him sternly but his adorable happiness made her 'no' stick in her throat. Out of any Role Holder she's ever met, Pierce seemed just so innocent it was hard to tell him no; kinda like with the twins but it was admittedly easier telling them no compared to Pierce.

"But you didn't say no! Thank you!" He happily cried, his chest softly and subtly thrumming in happiness as Jackie sighed, hugging him back and petting his hair. Such a cute kid.

"Yeah well, that's fine I guess. Anything would be better than sleeping with the twins. I'm still pretty sore." Jackie heavily sighed before looking up, seeing Elliot standing there with a stupified expression on his face. She sucked in a fast breath, grinning.

"Elliot! It's so good to see you-,"

"THOSE LITTLE SNOTS DID _WHAT_ TO YOU?!" Elliot practically screamed, making both her and Pierce jump as they turned their attention to him.

"Elliot?" Jackie questioned, reviewing her words and locating the source of the problem. Ah~ he misinterpreted.

"Jackie, are you alright?! Those annoyances didn't hurt you, did they?!" He demanded, clearly looking flustered as Pierce gasped in excitement.

"Elly~!" He grinned, throwing himself onto Elliot as he tightly hugged the man. "How about a kiss? Chu~," Pierce happily smiled, standing on his tippy toes trying to reach Elliot's cheek but his big hand gripped the mouse's skull, pressing the nozzle of his gun against his forehead with a threatening, pissed off grin.

" _OFF."_ He ordered before peeling Pierce off, tossing him aside before grabbing Jackie's shoulders and holding her steady while looking her over in a panic. She couldn't help but laugh at his reaction while his head spun, clearly imagining things much worse than what actually happened.

"Elliot, Elliot! Relax, it was nothing like that." She laughed, hugging him before he hesitantly returned with a flustered touch of red on his cheeks.

"But seriously, did those little s***s do anything weird to you?" He asked as they pulled away, both relatively happy at running into each other.

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine really," Jackie said, waving off his concern, "I came to the Mansion the other Night Time Change looking for you but I ran into the twins instead. Since I didn't want to bother the maids I went ahead and stayed with them is all." Jackie briefly explained.

"Jackie, that's no good! You shouldn't go around sleeping with guys in their beds!" He scolded as Jackie rolled her eyes.

"Oh please Elliot, you act like I'm going to do something with them." She laughed off, knowing he was right. Sleeping in the same bed as a Role Holder was certainly weird but she couldn't think anything bad about the twins. They were just some cute little boys to her.

"Jackie." He stated, ears lowering in annoyance, "watch yourself. The twins aren't just a couple of cute little boys as much as you and Alice want to believe that." He nagged as Jackie reached up, very gently gripping his ear and making him flinch as she gingerly but softly pet his ear to the tip.

"I know that, Elliot. Next time I will insist for a maid to set up a guest room but I was too tired to do that." She assured him before Pierce suddenly jumped her, surprising her as he hugged her and proudly looked up to Elliot.

"Elly, Elly look what I picked up! I found another foreigner!" He proudly proclaimed, clearly not having sensed that they knew each other despite their friendly conversation.

"You didn't, actually. She was in Heart Country before this with us." Elliot said as Pierce gasped, almost heartbroken from not having found Jackie first. She lightly laughed, petting the top of Pierce's head.

"So what brings you around here, Elliot? I was just heading to Clover Tower with Pierce to sort things out." Jackie said, catching the 'not rabbit''s attention.

"Clover Tower? Why would you go there? The Assembly isn't for another few Time Changes." He said, confused as Pierce's hug around Jackie tightened, listening to her heart a little more while they talked.

"And _that's_ why I need to go see him. I have no idea what's going on here or where in the hell the Amusement Park went." Jackie admitted, feeling her stresses from earlier beginning to crash down on her. Pierce perked up, pressing his head against her chest and listened to her heart rate pick up.

"The Amusement Park? It's just in Heart Country." He said, his ear flickering as he clearly picked up on her anxieties as well.

"Saying that means nothing to me. I have no idea what's going on with, with this move or Clover Country or freaking giant mushrooms sprouting up everywhere and why in the world the Amusement Park disappeared." Jackie explained as Pierce's tail twitched back and forth, listening to her heart a little closer.

"Oh, the giant mushrooms are here because this is Clover Country." He explained happily as Jackie's eyes narrowed, finding his explanation to be rather poor.

"Right, right well whatever the reason is I need to go and see Nightmare. He'd be able to explain it better in a way I can understand." Jackie admitted as Elliot sighed.

"It's really not that hard, Jackie. We just moved from Heart Country to Clover Country." He said, sounding to be getting a little annoyed.

"Look, Elliot, I just need to get to Clover Tower." Jackie stated, ending the confusing argument right then and there.

"Well alright but the worm is just going to tell you the same thing that I just did." He said with a huff as the sky shifted to Night. Jackie's frown deepened, knowing it was going to be harder to find the building now as Elliot sighed, making her pay him attention. "Look, I'll go ahead and take you to Clover Tower if you'd like. I was on my way near there anyway."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Jackie said, trying to disengage from a highly attentive Pierce but he reached up, kissing her instead. A crackle of tension immediately shot out of Elliot's eyes as Pierce happily looked up at him, outshining the hateful glare rather amazingly that almost blinded Jackie.

"That's okay, Elliot! I was just showing her the way." He cheerfully smiled as Elliot frowned.

"You can't, you've got a lot of jobs to do for a while." Elliot said, pulling out a thick packet before handing it to the mouse. As Pierce reached for it, Elliot's eyes narrowed in annoyance, separating Jackie from Pierce as he opened the folder and looked it over with a frown.

"Awe … so much work." He pouted.

"Of course there is. With a new move comes more fighting for territory." Elliot said before pausing, looking over at Jackie. "Don't go out into the streets around Dusk or Night. There's going to be a lot more turf fights coming now that we're in Clover." He said before stopping short, seeing his words float right over Jackie's head as she blankly stared at him. "Anyway, just don't go out at Dusk or Night."

"Yeah, that's fine. I didn't usually do that anyway." She shrugged before Elliot grabbed her shoulders, making her tense up as she looked at his deadly serious gaze.

"I'm serious, Jackie."

The engineer stared at him, seeing his serious 'second in command of the mafia' face coming out as she grimaced.

"Yeah, that's fine. Can we head to Clover Tower now? I'm eager to figure out what's going on." Jackie impatiently asked as Elliot grinned.

"Leave it to me." He assured as Jackie smiled. Elliot really was the best friend she could have in Wonderland right next to Boris. "See you later, Pierce - Pierce?" Jackie questioned, finding him already gone. Huh. He's got one hell of a disappearing act.

"Come on, Clover Tower isn't far from here." Elliot said, gesturing her to follow as she walked besides him, wondering what was in that packet. "So, Jackie, there's an amazing new bakery not far from here almost entirely dedicated to carrot based foods. You should have seen the store front! It was mouth watering and they have everything from tea to cakes-," Elliot started, his eyes glowing while he metaphorically drooled in excitement, babbling on about how amazing the bakery was. Jackie's laughter made him stop short as she grinned up at him.

"Yeah, I get it. I'd love to go sometime you're free. How about in the next Afternoon Time Change?" She suggested, seeing him frown in thought.

"No good; I'll be swamped until the Assembly starts in 5 Time Changes." He deeply frowned, clearly yearning to go sooner but having no time.

"And what is the Assembly, exactly? I'm guessing it's a pointless meeting to get Role Holders together like the ball, right?" Jackie asked as Elliot nodded.

"More or less, yes." He grinned, "normally the Assembly lasts for a handful of Time Changes, holding meetings each Afternoon for whatever number of Afternoons it takes to complete the deal."

"Hmm~ sounds horribly boring." Jackie admitted with a grin, looking ahead, "well, at least you all know what you're going to do. I'm struggling to think of what I can do now that the Amusement Park is gone - or, moved, anyway." Jackie's expression visibly fell as she stared straight ahead, trying to figure out what she wanted to do. Elliot fell silent as well, seeming nervous.

" … do you want to stay in this world, Jackie?" He asked in a rather serious tone.

"Of course not." She answered without a pause in beat, seeing the almost immediately heartbreak in his eyes. Jackie stared at him, hesitating before letting out a stiff sigh. "Well, when Alice finishes her game … whenever that is," Jackie muttered in annoyance before smiling again, "I'll be able to start on my own game. And I have a pretty good idea how to fill up my vial quickly." She cheerfully smiled, remaining rather positive about how she'd be able to get back.

"But won't you miss any of us?" Elliot asked with lowered ears, seeming genuinely hurt by her comment as Jackie gently smiled.

"Of course I will. There's not one of you that I won't miss but it's probably going to be quite some time until Alice makes her decision." Jackie heavily sighed. Honestly … having to wait for Alice to made a decision even though she's already practically done was killing her. The longer Alice waited the longer Jackie had to stay in Wonderland and she did not like that very much at all.

"But why would you want to go back? Is Wonderland really that terrible?" Elliot questioned, his ears twitching irritably.

"Well no but I don't belong here, Elliot. I need to get back to my world as soon as I can." Jackie explained. This world … it's not a world she can be a part of. As much as it hurt her she really did need to go back to her dreary world and continue her life here. This time in Wonderland was something she would never forget but she was admittedly eager to go home to New York.

"I-I see … I thought that after all this time you would want to stay but I guess it would take more than that." He sadly smiled.

"Come on, don't be like that. I'm still going to be here for a while." Jackie admitted with a grin, "and in that time we need to go to that bakery shop, right?" She grinned, leaning against him a bit and trying to lift his spirits.

"Yeah." He grinned before stopping short, his expression falling flat. His eyes narrowed as Jackie immediately took caution, looking around the alleyway uneasily. " … head straight down this alley and turn right and you'll run into Clover Tower."

"Yup." Jackie said, not questioning him in the least as she started to quickly trot down the alley, barely turned right before the gunshots started firing off, making her break into a full blown sprint out of there. With all these gunfights around it really was amazing how she hadn't died yet and she didn't plan to die here in Wonderland.

A large building came into view as she looked up at the massive structure, finding herself stunned by the beautiful and otherworldly architecture. Whoa … this building was gorgeous. It looked so new in design compared to the rustic Clock Tower. Jackie took a deep breath before walking up the stairs to the front door, trying the door and finding it unlocked. The doors swung open as she stepped inside, finding the building bustling with people working through the Night period Jackie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before screaming NIGHTMARE as loud as she possibly could in her mind, receiving a startled shout from up on the second floor. Huh, that was close.

"Lord Nightmare-?!" Someone shouted as he darted past Jackie. She barely had enough time to spot his bright topaz eyes before he leapt up the stairs, moving impressively fast. Another Role Holder? Just how many more Role Holders are there that she hasn't met yet? Jackie brushed it off with a wave of her hand before heading up the stairs, turning and looking down the hall to find Nightmare excitedly looking at her before darting back inside.

"Nightmare," Jackie called, walking towards the door and opening it to find a surprised Role Holder with a tattoo of a lizard on his neck standing before her, seeming surprised. "Oh, hey." Jackie smiled in a friendly way before stepping past him, spotting Nightmare trying to look cool in his chair and unlit pipe. Jackie nearly burst out laughing; he must have wanted to make a good impression on her. Despite the strange circumstances, it was somewhat nice knowing Nightmare actually had a normal body. Strangely it seemed like he only existed in dreams.

"Well, I _am_ an incubus, you know." He said with a cheerful grin, seeming strangely pleased before he leaned forward towards her, "isn't Clover Tower amazing, Jackie? The architecture is certainly impressive compared to many of the other buildings, isn't it?" He asked, his eyes glowing as he cheekily grinned. Jackie stared at him, a little surprised at the change in attitude. Was this was Nightmare really was like in the physical sense? She had to admit it was strange seeing him so cheerful when he was so often so dreary and mysterious in her dreams. Nightmare smiled brightly as Jackie's eyes narrowed. In the very annoying sense, anyway.

"Using my abilities against me isn't fair." Nightmare pouted, floating up into the air rather effortlessly as

"Don't be so rude." Nightmare chided before grinning, floating down next to her before gesturing towards Gray with a haughty grin, "this is my subordinate, Gray Ringmarc."

Jackie turned to look up at Gray as he returned the staring, appearing curious as well.

"Nice to meet you, Gray. I'm Jackie," she introduced rather curtly and formally, eager to talk to Nightmare about what was happening to her.

"The pleasure is mine." He politely smiled back before Jackie turned back to Nightmare.

"So can you start explaining what is going on here?" Jackie asked, allowing her anxiety pour out in abundance in her mind. She grimaced, still trying to make sense of what was happening right now. The Amusement Park was gone, there were giant mushrooms growing everywhere and a new territory with Nightmare and this other guy in it; not to mention something called the 'move' and something about Heart Country and Clover Country. The incubus let out a faint sigh, reading all of her troubles without missing a beat.

"It's alright, Jackie. Take a seat and I will explain. Gray, bring us some coffees." Nightmare cheekily grinned as he began floating towards the young engineer. Gray's hand shot up, grabbing Nightmare's foot and making him look back at him.

"You have only one Time Change for your break before getting back to work." He said with a smile as Nightmare immediately started to pout.

"Well that's not really fair, she's very confused."

"I'll get your coffees now." Gray said with a smile before leaving. Nightmare cheerfully grinned once the door shut, flipping himself around through the air before taking a seat next to Jackie.

"Now, where would you like me to begin?"

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 _ **10 REVIEWS**_ for the next chapter ;3


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